The Akron Athletics Department and Akron fans must think they have died and gone to heaven. A little over a month ago the Zips faced a winless Army football team in Akron. A crowd of 12,203 watched the Zips fall flat on their faces in a 20-0 loss. At 3-4 overall and 2-2 in the MAC the Zips didn't look like a respectable team let alone a MAC Champion. But as Nick Gerogosian described earlier this year in his article entitled The Wacky MAC, the crazy MAC football season gave the Akron football team hope, and the Zips made the most of it.

The Zips were picked to go 4-7 and finish tied with Ohio for 3rd in the MAC East. Similarly, our friends at MACReportOnline.com picked the Zips to finish 4th in the MAC East. Losing their poster-child QB Charlie Frye to the Cleveland Browns in the NFL Draft meant the Zips would struggle in 2005, right?

Apparently J.D.Brookhart, Akron's Head Coach and the mastermind behind the Zips success, had other ideas. Junior Luke Getsy was named the starting QB of the Zips after transferring from Pitt. Brookhart liked Getsy's experience running the West Coast Offense and, looking back, made one heck of a great decision. Getsy was fortunate enough to have All-MAC running back Brett Biggs returning and speedy senior WR Domenik Hixon to make his job a bit easier. The trio led the Zips all season to their improbable MAC Championship.

Fairness in college sports does not seem to exist; money dominates. Just ask the Akron Athletic Department after the 2004-2005 academic year ended. Despite having the heavily-hyped, All-MAC Quarterback Charlie Frye lead them to a 6-5 record, the Zips were the only, yes, I said the only, bowl-eligible school in Division I-A in 2004 not to receive a bowl bid. Then their basketball team finished the season 19-10 record and did not even receive a NIT bid. The Zips were possibly the most unlucky, successful school in Division I-A.

However, everything changed in the past few weeks for the Zips. Wins over Bowling Green, Ohio and some help from BG and Miami meant the Zips needed to beat rival Kent State on Thanksgiving Day to advance to the MAC Championship game against the Northern Illinois Huskies. A 35-3 thumping of Kent advanced Akron to a rematch with NIU who the Zips upset earlier in the year 48-42 in a crazy OT game.

Because the MAC has just two bowl tie-ins and because Toledo had already accepted an invite to the GMAC Bowl, the MAC Championship became the only chance for NIU or Akron to go bowling this season. Detroit, Michigan, was the site of the 2005 MAC Championship game; the same place that the winner would play in the 2005 Motor City Bowl. The loser, unfortunately, would watch most of the bowl season on ESPN.

ESPN did a first class job with their coverage of the title game and witnessed a fantastic football game between two solid football teams. The crowd may have been small, but the quality of the individual players and the exciting finish coupled with the excellence in ESPN's coverage certainly made the MAC look very good to a national audience. With 17 seconds remaining from the NIU 36 yard line Akron QB Luke Getsy fired a pass to the end zone and Domenik Hixon made a beautiful diving catch to tie the game. The PAT sealed a fantastic comeback for the Zips and a 31-30 victory. All of the bad luck of 2004-2005 was forgotten.

The Zips have a program on the rise that could very well become a force in the years to come. Brookhart's 2005 recruiting class was ranked #1 in the MAC by this site and it would be logical to think that J.D. and his staff could duplicate that effort thanks to their 2005 success. Another strong class of recruits added to the championship experience of 2005 will make facing the Zips even more difficult in the coming years.

Now the Akron Zips football team is heading into a December 26th match-up in the Motor City Bowl. The Zips basketball team, despite a loss @ California on Saturday night, has high expectations and will likely contend for a MAC Championship. And Sunday marked former Akron QB Charlie Frye's first career start in the NFL.

What a great time to be a Zip!

by Luke M. Jernigan for VanDelaySports.com